£45m star who's shades of Patrick Vieira must never play for Arsenal again

There is no getting away from the fact that this season has been a mostly disappointing one for Arsenal.

Mikel Arteta’s side might have made it to the club’s first Champions League semi-final since the 08/09 season, but they were out of the Premier League title race months ago and crashed out of the FA Cup in the Third Round.

However, all of that can be forgotten for the next few months, as with the summer transfer window about to open, the North Londoners have the chance to seriously improve the squad with some international superstars.

Yet, it’s not all about incomings, and there are a number of first-teamers who should be sold or let go as well, including one who’s previously been compared to Patrick Vieira.

The Arsenal stars who should go

So, while the likes of Kieran Tierney and Jorginho are already confirmed to be leaving the club, with the former going to Celtic and the latter Flamengo, there are a few others in the squad who should probably be moved on, like Oleksandr Zinchenko.

Alongside Gabriel Jesus, the Ukranian international’s arrival from Manchester City in the summer of 2022 represented the start of the Gunners’ recent resurgence, and for most of the 22/23 campaign, he was superb.

However, as his defensive fragilities became more apparent, he began to lose his place in the team and went from playing 2411 minutes in his first campaign to 2082 last year and then just 789 minutes this season.

Another signing from the same summer who should probably be moved on is Fabio Vieira.

The Portuguese midfielder joined the club from Porto for around £34m, but after two seasons, in which he scored just three goals and provided ten assists in 49 games, he was sent back to the Portuguese giants on a season-long loan.

While it’s been a reasonably successful spell back at his old club this year, ten goal involvements in 39 games is hardly prolific, so instead of giving him yet another chance in North London, Andrea Berta and Co should be ruthless and try and get back as much money as they can for him this summer.

That same ruthlessness should see them let another player leave, a player who’s been compared to the Gunners’ far more successful Vieira.

Arsenal’s Vieira 2.0 must not play for the club again

So, given the situation of the squad at the moment, it’ll probably come as no surprise that the player we are talking about is Thomas Partey.

Now, the first thing to say is that this is no slight on the midfielder’s ability, as for much of his Arsenal career, he has been brilliant, so much so that back in 2020 after signing for £45m, Roy Keane, of all people, described him as “outstanding” and even compared him to one of the Gunners’ all-time great midfielders in Vieira.

Moreover, for much of this season, he was an important part of Arteta’s starting midfield, but even so, there are several reasons why he should be allowed to leave this summer and not offered a new deal, as reports suggest he will be.

The first is that at 31 and with his horrendous injury record, which has seen him miss 81 games for club and country since he moved to N5, and while he stayed remarkably fit this season, history tells us he cannot be relied upon to remain so.

This links to the next point: the finances.

If Berta and Co do end up offering the former Atlético Madrid star a deal similar to the one he is on now, then that is around £200k-per-week tied up for at least a couple more years in someone who may end up missing huge chunks of the campaign.

Finally, following Fabrizio Romano’s update that Martin Zubimendi’s transfer to the club is practically complete, it once again feels like a waste of resources to be handing out big contracts to a player who could end up just being a squad player.

Ultimately, Partey remains a talented footballer and someone who has been a real asset to Arsenal, but as the club look to make the next step this summer, it makes sense to say thanks and let him leave, not hand him another expensive deal.